Question

You work for a packaging company. The total weight of a container and its contents is 48 pounds. The contents of the container account for of the total weight.
Which fraction represents the ratio of the weight of the container to the weight of the contents?

Answer 1

Answer:

$\frac{48-c}{48-C}$

Step-by-step explanation:

Givens

• The total weight of a container and its content is 48 pounds.

However, we don't know the exact weight of the content.

Let's call $C$ the weight of the container and $c$ the weight of the content.

$C+c=48$, which represents the total weight.

Now, the ratio between the container and the content would be

$\frac{48-c}{48-C}$

Remember that the ratio is a fraction of similar magnitudes, in this case the magnitude is weight.

Also, we use a difference, because the weight of the container is the difference between the total weight and the weight of the content, and viceversa.

Therefore, the ratio is $\frac{48-c}{48-C}$

Answer 2

It would be 1/1 because it’s the contents that provide the weight. Not the container it’s self.
If you think about the butter in the plastic tub. The butter makes up all the weight.